Family feels sorry for girl, 9, who shot their dad in Arizona

Associated Press

New York (AP) — The family of an Arizona shooting range instructor accidentally killed by a 9-year-old girl while he was teaching her to use an Uzi say they feel sorry for the child.

Instructor Charles Vacca was standing next to the girl on Monday at the Last Stop range in White Hills, Arizona, about 60 miles south of Las Vegas, when she squeezed the trigger. The recoil wrenched the Uzi upward, and the 39-year-old Vacca was fatally shot once in the head.

His daughter, 19-year-old Ashley, told NBC's "Today" show that the family knows it was a tragic accident and something she'll have to live with.

Prosecutors say they will not file charges. The identities of the girl and her family have not been released.